Barley, Smoked Paprika Red Potatoes, and Hard Boiled Egg

05.14.14

I get asked a lot what my go-to meals are and I usually stumble a bit because I don’t have the most elegant answer: “bowls,” I say, “Well, I don’t eat bowls but I often find myself tossing a bevy of random ingredients into one and calling it a meal.” Sometimes these bowls are filled with salad, other times with grain pilafs or fried rice. More often than not, however, my go-to meals sit somewhere in between those two (is there a name for this? If so, inquiring minds need to know!).

This dish definitely constitutes the in between. Not a salad (it could be fairly easily- just serve over spinach) and it’s not quite a pilaf because the grain is really just supplementary to the potatoes. However, it’s filling, rather easy to throw together, and super flavorful (I love smoked paprika for easy flavor.) During the fall this meal would be killer with sweet potatoes (so, tuck it away in a safe spot and come back to it!)

Cut potatoes in bite-size cubes. In a large baking dish, add potatoes and minced garlic. Mince garlic and add to pan along with the heavy cream, paprika, sugar, salt, and turmeric. Using a spoon or your hands, toss everything together so that potatoes are coated.

Bake for 10 minutes, stir, and bake for another 15-20 minutes or until potatoes are tender.

Remove potatoes from oven and stir the barley into the hot pan. Divide into bowls and top with sliced hardboiled egg, blue cheese crumbles, and scallions.

Notes

Want to make it gluten-free and/or vegan? Use full-fat coconut milk in place of the heavy cream and change out the barley for your favorite gf grain (sorghum, millet, or quinoa I think would be lovely!)

The flavors in this bowl sound outstanding! It’s generic, but yes I would consider this a one-bowl meal or a barley bowl. Anytime there’s a grain, veg, and sauce component in one bowl, it becomes a bowl meal! 😉 Even though we could come up with a more illustrative and creative name, I still love this way of thinking about food, cooking, and eating!!

Tried this tonight Sooo delicious! Added some oil to the cream mixture which helped with more sauce to coat the barley. Also threw some kale into the mix because… well it’s amazing! Kale goes into everything my roommate and I make! Never has our fridge been without it!